You Put the Arrow In (Became an Angel Too)
by theirhappystory
Summary: When Felicity Smoak started hacking the Starling City vigilante and his Team five months ago, she wasn't exactly sure what she wanted from it. But now he's found her in an alleyway and given her an offer she can't and doesn't want to refuse. (Otherwise known as the 'Felicity is Artemis' AU.)
1. It Started in an Alleyway

**Author's Note: Uhm, hi, hello. Yes, this is another fic from me. Yes, it is multi-chapter. Yes, I am aware that I should not be taking this on at the same time as "With Our Backs to the Wall". Yes, this is a totally horrible idea. Yes, I am doing it anyway.**

**For those of you who follow me on Tumblr you may have seen me mention the 'Felicity is Artemis' AU. Well, this is it. It's not going to be a one-shot but it's not going to hold the same structure as "With Our Back to the Wall", which is a multi-chapter fic through and through. Instead, this is going to act more as a continuing story with different snapshots in time set in the same 'verse. So it's like a collection of one-shots but all for the same story and in chronological order.**

**Also, for those of you who have no clue who Artemis is, may I direct you to the TV show "Young Justice". Season 1 is on Netflix and there you will find Artemis Crock, skilled young archer and apprentice of Green Arrow, also the slight inspiration for this fic. It's a really great show that I highly recommend. Minus Season 2. Don't watch Season 2, it will ruin your life.**

**Okay this ridiculously long author's note is now finished. Please enjoy!**

…**.**

"Part 1: It Started in an Alleyway"

She walks along the cold, wet pavement, hands shoved deep within her pockets and shoulders hunched. The oversized dark green army-style jacket she wears shields her from the late-autumn chill and hides her form as she hurries along, trying not to draw attention to herself. It's dangerous here in the Glades for someone like her. Young, blonde, petite in stature, and most prominently female. Her appearance makes her the exact the kind of target that the scum on these streets seek out. They associate someone like her with being weak, helpless, unable to fight back.

How unfortunate for them, should they try anything, because Felicity Smoak is none of those things.

Her father taught her at a young age how to defend herself. Not out of concern for his daughter but out of necessity. With his line of work, knowing how to defend yourself was a must. Everyone around him was in a constant state of danger.

Of course, that's not why he taught her how to fight, how to hack a prison system's or federal agency's network in under thirty seconds, how to fire an arrow with 100% accuracy, how to kill a man with her bare hands and leave no trace behind. No, her father didn't teach her how to keep herself safe. He trained her how to be a weapon.

Too bad for him this weapon had a mind of her own and couldn't be as easily manipulated as the lethal technology he sported.

The sound of a scuffle followed by terrified sobs grabs Felicity's attention and knocks her out of her reverie. The noise comes from an alleyway up ahead on her right. This is the Glades. It doesn't take a genius, even though she is one, to figure out what's going on. She sighs before muttering to herself.

"Damn it, I really thought I was going to make it home without incident tonight."

Felicity picks up her pace, fast enough to get her to the alley sooner but not enough to draw attention. Rounding the corner, she finds exactly the scene she was expecting. A group of disgusting lowlifes, three of them to be exact and by the quick survey she makes of them physically no older than twenty-five, has a young girl pinned to the alley wall. The girl looks terrified, eyes wild and tears streaming down her face. One of the men has a hand covering her mouth, muffling her screams. Luckily, Felicity notes, all her clothes are still fully intact.

"Come on, boys, let's all play nice here."

All three men snap their heads around on high alert to look at Felicity. They visibly relax after surveying her features, having assessed her as not being a threat.

That's their first mistake.

"Well, hey there, sweetheart. Didn't your daddy ever tell you not to talk to strangers?"

One of them, shorter than the others with shaggy black hair pulled back into a ponytail at the base of his skull, stalks towards her. The look in his eyes is hungry, predatory. She catches the shine of metal in his hand, a pocketknife he drew out when she first interrupted, and watches as he retracts the blade before sliding the weapon back into his pocket.

That's mistake number two.

"My daddy doesn't have much of a say in what I do or don't do."

The girl, still pinned to the brick wall by one of Ponytail's buddies, stares at Felicity, silently screaming for help with her eyes and violently shaking.

"Why don't you boys let her go and we can have some real fun, huh?"

Ponytail exchanges a look with his buddies, whom Felicity nicknames Black Eye and Tiny Hands, for obvious reasons. Hey, no one said she had to be original when nicknaming the scumbags she was about to take down.

The three men seem to come to some sort of agreement and Black Eye releases the girl from his hold. She gasps for air then whips her head to the side to stare at Felicity.

Three strikes and you're out, boys.

"Go."

Felicity says it for the girl's safety as much as for her own. She can't be worrying about keeping some random girl out of harm's way while kicking ass. It's just distracting.

Luckily, the would-be victim's self-preservation instincts have her turning and fleeing in the opposite direction. Not a single one of the goons even throws so much as a glance in her direction. Even if she did go to the police, they don't care enough about an everyday mugging here in the Glades to go after the guys.

Ponytail, he seems to be the leader of the group, approaches Felicity with a leer on his face.

"So baby, what you got hiding under them clothes? You did promise us some real fun."

Really, he's making this too easy on her.

"Why don't you come over here and find out?"

His first move is predictable; a standard grab of her wrist, and Felicity almost rolls her eyes at the lack of originality.

The second his fingers clamp around her she moves. In a matter of seconds, the hand she still has free comes to lock around the wrist of the hand Ponytail is using to grab hers. Knees bent for stability, Felicity quickly pushes his arm up into his own shoulder, causing his grip to go slack, and yanks her arm away. Then she connects her knee to his groin, a low but effective blow, and delivers a roundhouse kick to the side of his head where she knows it will knock him unconscious.

Arms wrap around her from behind, something Felicity was expecting. It's a classic bear hug position. Again, not the most original of attack holds but that just makes her life a little easier. Her hands come around and grab on to her attacker's, by the feel of them she identifies her second opponent as Tiny Hands, and sinks low to the ground. It lowers Felicity's center of gravity and gives her a better control over her balance. Her left hand slides behind her attackers arm, hooking around it and meeting back up with her own wrist where it still grips Tiny Hands'.

Turning to the side, Felicity uses the full force of her body to break her attacker's grip but not her own. Her leg comes up between his, hooking around the back of his thigh and she shifts her weight backwards. They tumble to the ground, as she planned. Her body rolls with the motion until she is kneeling over top of Tiny Hands. It only takes two fingers and a jab at his throat to knock him out.

Felicity stands and turns to face the third and final lowlife. Black Eye. He looks unsure of himself, of course he would be. None of them were expecting to be bested by a little girl. Her opponent's underestimation of her ability is always Felicity's best weapon.

It seems that Black Eye doesn't want to take her on physically because he quickly pulls out a gun and aims it at her. Felicity assumes it's supposed to be aimed at her chest, but the man is clearly not trained because she can tell from where she stands that the worst it would do is hit her in the shoulder. If he managed to hit her at all.

"What are you waiting for? Scared of a little girl?"

She hers the safety click off, watches as Black Eye takes aim, sees the rise and fall as he drags in a deep breath, finger on the trigger.

But the shot never fires.

An arrow does instead. And not at her.

The arrowhead bursts open at the last second, releasing a chord that wraps around her opponent's ankles and knocks him to the ground.

"What the hell?!"

Felicity doesn't think twice before running up to where the man currently lies.

"Didn't _your_ daddy ever tell _you_ it's not nice to hit girls?"

She silences anything he's about to say with a swift kick to his temple.

There's a soft thump from behind her and then the sound of a voice modulator turning on but she beats him to it.

"You know, I totally had this one on my own."

She turns to look at her "hero". As she expected, it's the man in green leather who has made it his mission to clean up the streets of Starling and "save the city". He has a lot of names. The Vigilante. The Hood. The Arrow. And the newest one: Green Arrow. Yeah, the people of Starling are some super clever individuals.

"Did you now?"

His voice is too low, rough, and holds an electronic tinge she knows comes from the faders that mask what he really sounds like. You know, secret identity and all that.

"Yeah, I did. Those guys never stood a chance. Their technique was so sloppy. Actually there really wasn't any technique, period. They were just sloppy. Whatever, it made my life a little easier. Not that I couldn't have taken them on if they _were_ skilled. Because I totally could. I just didn't want to have to explain to my mom if I came home injured. Again."

His amused chuckle cuts her off and causes her cheeks to flood with heat. To avoid his gaze, not that he tried to make direct eye contact with her anyway, Felicity surveys their surroundings, looking for his team.

"So, where are Red and Canary? Did you leave them back at your super secret hide out? Should I be worried that you have me all alone in an alley way?"

Damn it, cheeks! The blushing really isn't helping her preserve the tough chick persona she had going on a few minutes ago.

"They're running surveillance elsewhere. And no, don't be worried."

"Okay… so why are you here? You know, stalking is a federal offense. I could have a restraining order taken out on you."

His shoulders shake and, to her amazement, he lets out a laugh. The brooding hero of Starling City just laughed. For some reason she never really associated him with a sense of humor. Or any happy emotion really. Every time he was mentioned in the news he was always portrayed as reserved and dark and "grrrrrr", the typical silent hero.

"If we are talking about stalking, I'm inclined to bring up the other night during the bank robbery."

Touché. The man had a point. She had sort of, maybe, kind of been following him and his team for months. It's also possible she hacked his communications system a time or two. For science.

"Would you believe me if I said I was going to make a deposit and it was just bad timing?"

"Hardly." He reaches a leather-clad hand into the quiver strapped to his thigh and pulls out an arrow that differs slightly from the rest. "I think you dropped this."

Stepping forward, he closes the distance between them and holds the arrow out for her to get a better look at. Upon inspection she sees that he's correct in assuming that it's hers. Although "dropped" isn't exactly the word she'd use. It's more like "shot into one of the robbers as he snuck up behind the Arrow's sidekick in red, subsequently saving the kid's life."

But, hey, whatever helps you sleep at night.

"Oh, look at that. Now you're stealing from me. That's two criminal offenses."

Felicity reaches out to take the arrow from him, but he moves his hand at the last second, taking it out of her reach. She raises and eyebrow at him in question.

"I'll give it back to you, but first you have to do something for me."

"Whoa there, Casanova. I'm a classy girl. You have to at least take me out to dinner first."

He ignores her attempt a deflection and continues on.

"As I was saying, you need to do something before you get your arrow back. Come back with me and tell me why you've been tracking me and my team for the past four months."

Shit. She really though he had been clueless about that. Or at least clueless until she started leaving traces in his system and then the obvious stop by the other night.

"Didn't I just tell you that I'm a classy lady? Yeesh, did you're mom not teach you any manners and that no means no?"

"Felicity."

She should probably be surprised that he knows her name, but she's not. The way it sounds coming from his mouth causes goose bumps to break out across her skin and sends bursts of heat through her. Yeah, so she might have a little crush on the guy. But he's a 6'1" body of refined muscles with a killer jawline and wicked fighting skills in leather. You would have to be blind, deaf, and dumb not to be. Really, you can't blame her.

"Damn it. Fine. Take me back to your man cave of super hero awesomeness and we'll talk."

"Man cave of super hero awesomeness?"

Well at least he's amused and not insulted by her lack of brain to mouth filter.

"Shut up and take me to your place."

Damn it, filter!

….

**Author's Note: So there you have it, first part done. This fic isn't as big a project as WOBTW so updating will be at my whim. I have 14k+ words written for it, it's just all unedited. **

**Hope you liked it and let me know your thoughts! Reviews are what motivate me and keep me going :)**

**- Bri**


	2. Meet the Team

**Author's Note: Because this story is following more of a multiple-one-shots-in-the-same-verse structure instead of a flowing/plot-filled multi-chapter fic, I have basically 5 parts (13k+ words) written already, it's just all unedited. So here's part 2.**

**Also for those wondering ages: Felicity (19), Oliver (26), Sara (24), Roy (22), Digg (35)**

...

Part 2: Meet the Team

"So, this is where the magic happens."

Felicity is quick to survey the inner layout of the Arrow's secret sanctum, which is surprisingly, or not so surprisingly given whom she suspects to be hiding under that hood, located underneath Verdant, one of Starling City's clubbing hot spots. They snuck in through some backdoor alleyway thing. Probably a good idea since he was still in full vigilante get-up. That would draw the attention of the partygoers no matter what inhibition-releasing substances they were on.

"I wouldn't call it magic but yes, this is our base of operations if you will."

There are multiple steel tables with various technologies set on them. One is completely bare and she assumes that is a makeshift med bay of sorts. There's a heart monitor, defibrillator, and IV standing next to it so that's probably a pretty good guess. Three glass cases stand next to each other, all possessing a naked mannequin inside of different heights and sizes.

There are two stations in particular that call her attention. One is a multi-monitor computer set up with a giant cushioned chair that is calling her name. Her fingers itch with the need to run over the keyboard and expose all the secrets of the Arrow and what exactly he does down here. But she'll get to that later.

The second thing that catches Felicity's eye is the weapons station, in particular the arrows and different bow models it holds. She wanders over to the area, glancing back to check if he's still watching her and that it's okay for her to do this. But really he brought her here and if he thought she wasn't going to take this chance to go exploring then he had another thing coming. She is going to take full advantage of this opportunity.

When their eyes meet she catches her breath. Even beneath the hood and dark green, almost black, mask she can see the intensity in his gaze. He's as curious about her as she is about him, studying her reactions the same way she is studying his lair. Only there's more heat in his inquisitive gaze than hers.

Turning back to the weaponry, Felicity gently slides the pads of her fingers over one of his arrows. They travel the length of the shaft before reaching the pointed tip, a triangular, elaborately shaped design. Then, her fingers move back down to lightly pull at the fletching. Sturdy and resilient, it forms right back into its proper shape.

It's a little elaborate, if you ask Felicity. Maybe he's compensating for something else? Then she remembers how she's scanned his leather-clad figure a few more times than she would ever admit aloud. Yeah, no, there's definitely nothing on his body that he would need to make up for.

"Careful."

He warns her from a few feet away, still watching her, as she grips the shaft of the arrow between her fingertips. She bounces it lightly in her hands, testing the weight.

"You know, if you switched from carbon arrows to an aluminum-carbon composite you'd have much better penetration. Not that there's anything wrong with what you're doing now. I mean obviously it gets the job done. I'm sure you penetrate just fine but what could a little help hurt?"

Felicity is pretty sure she just went from constructive criticism on his arrows to commenting on his, well _arrow_.

"Felicity."

"Right. Well, why exactly am I down here anyway? I probably should have asked you that before I agreed to come with you. Now that I think about it, you're track record could spell some bad things for me. You're not gonna, like, kill me or anything are you? Because that would suck."

Felicity places the arrow back where it belongs before shifting her stance to fully face him. Killing her would be a little bit drastic and hasn't been his M.O. for a while now. But you know, exceptions can be made and Felicity Smoak is definitely an exception in most aspects of her life.

"No, I'm not going to kill you."

"That's kind of hard to believe coming from someone who won't even show me his face."

It was meant to be a challenge, to give her back some semblance of control over the situation. Sass, there really isn't a better word for it, has always been her go to defense, besides physical violence, but that was something she tended to try to avoid. Hurting people wasn't exactly something she enjoyed doing. It was a last resort, taken only unless absolutely necessary.

The point is, she called him out to challenge him. She didn't expect him to reach up and tip his hood back before slipping the mask off of his face. But that's exactly what he does.

"Oliver Queen. Hey, I was right. Go me!"

"Somehow I thought this would be a little more of a surprise to you."

The smirk she throws him is all knowing and maybe a little bit cocky. But she's been hacking into their Intel and coms system for months. She figured out the basics of all the "secret" identities within the first three weeks. It's actually kind of funny to her how no one else has identified them.

Well, Detective Quentin Lance of the SCPD knows that his daughter, Sara Lance, is the Canary but from what Felicity has gathered he's blind to the others' identities. Funny considering he's a detective and Oliver Queen has been linked to both his daughters, having dated his eldest Laurel and been best friends with Sara, as well as been accused of being the vigilante.

"No offense, Oliver – is it okay if I call you that or do you prefer Mr. Queen? – but it really wasn't that hard to put two and two together. Billionaire scion stranded on an island with his childhood best friend for two years comes back the same time as two vigilantes, one male and the other female, appear in the city. I may be blonde but I'm not _that _blonde."

Sighing in defeat, Oliver haphazardly throws the mask on a nearby table before shucking off his gloves and adding them to the pile.

"Oliver is fine. Mr. Queen was my father. How long have you known?"

Does she lie to make him feel better or tell him the truth? Felicity opts for the second choice. He's a big, bad vigilante with a killer body and a not-so-secret cult of fangirls on the Internet – she looked into it for investigative reasons only. He can handle the small blow to his ego. It actually might do him some good.

"About five months. You might want to invest in some codenames or at least stick with the superhero titles over the coms."

"Five months? But Sar-Canary said you've only been tracking us for four at the most."

Casually strolling away from the weapons department, Felicity makes her way around to the bank of computers. She grabs the top of the black leather chair and spins it around so that she can plop herself down into it. Then she swivels to face the monitors and begins pulling up systems coding and backdoor programs on the computer's mainframe until she finds what she's looking for.

"Come here. I'll show you a cool little trick of mine."

The echo of footsteps warns her of his approach. She can see his outline reflected in the monitors when he gets close enough but she doesn't turn back around to check.

"What am I looking at, exactly?"

Gesturing towards the monitor, a series of zeros and ones and a few programs she disguised as video feed encoders flash across the screen.

"See these? I built them to hack your system undetected from my own computer. Your girl, who I know by the way is Sara Lance, she's good. But I'm better. This here – " she points to a small variation in code " – that's when I started infiltrating your system back in May. I wasn't doing very much so it was near impossible to detect. I started dropping hints here – " again she draws his attention to a deviation in the code, this one much more noticeable – "towards the end of June."

"Am I supposed to see a difference there or something?"

Okay, more noticeable to her.

"Right, I do remember Sara saying something over the coms about you being technologically challenged. So no, you probably wouldn't see it. But someone trained like her? Yeah this is like a neon sign flashing in your face."

Her boot-clad feet propel her around in the chair until she's facing Oliver. The look on his face is actually, dare she say, adorable. It's confused and quizzical and almost resembles a pout. He must not be very used to being bested by nineteen-year-old girls.

The sounds of an electronic lock clicking free followed by the opening of a door and clanking footsteps on stairs interrupts whatever he was about to say.

Felicity turns her head to watch as one of his sidekicks, the boy in a red leather suit that resembles Oliver's, reaches the bottom of the staircase.

"Hey, boss, street scums are all wrapped up nice and pretty for the police to pick up. Is Sara back ye –" He stops short when Oliver shifts his stance, which until then had been blocking Felicity from his line of sight. "What the hell is she doing here?"

Well that was rude. What did she ever do to him? Beside save his life.

"Excuse you, but _she_ has a name. It's Felicity. And I would show a little more gratitude to the girl who saved your skin only a few days ago, if I were you."

"That was – I totally had that!"

"Yeah, sure you did."

Oliver interjects quickly, to prevent a screaming match between her and his sidekick Felicity assumes.

"Roy, calm down. We talked about this."

Yes, Roy, calm down before steam starts coming out of your nose and you start breathing fire. Geez! Felicity read about his infamous temper online but witnessing it and having it directed at her is a whole different thing.

"We talked about it, yeah. But I didn't realize you planned on bringing her down here _tonight_ and telling her who we are!"

"Actually, I already knew that. You're Roy Harper. You live in the Glades with your mother, got your GED at seventeen, work here at Verdant as a waiter, and are dating the infamous Thea Queen."

"What the hell, man?!"

Oliver shrugs in a sort of 'what can you do?' manner before raising his hands in a gesture of peace.

"Felicity figured that out on her own. Apparently, this one has been hacking us for longer than Sara thought."

"She's been hacking me longer than four months? Figures. It was too obvious. Nice work, by the way."

Felicity whips her head around to see the female vigilante in black enter through a side door. Her eyes go wide and she'll never admit it but she just barely holds an excited squeal in. It's possible she's a bit of a fan of the Canary and her work.

"Thanks!" Okay, that was a little too excited. "I mean, yeah it should be. I've been writing code and building computers since I was seven."

A quick glance at Oliver shows that her cover wasn't quite as casual as she was going for because he's smirking at her with amusement in his eyes.

"Did you know he was planning on bringing her back here?"

Wow, this kid, he's older than her by three years but that's not important, really just needs to get over it.

"Of course I did."

"You told Sara and not me that this was happening for sure, tonight?"

"He didn't have to. Ollie's predictable. This was going to happen sooner or later and my bet was on sooner."

Sara throws the response over her shoulder as she opens the glass case that Felicity assumes belongs to her and begins stripping parts of her costume off.

"Okay, time out!"

Felicity stands from the chair, demanding the attention of all three vigilantes in the room. She can hold her own in a verbal sparring but first she needs to set something straight.

"Exactly what did you talk about?"

The three heroes exchange glances, deciding who will explain this to her. Sara, surprisingly, is the one who speaks up.

"We want you on the team."

Whoa. She hadn't been expecting such an upfront invitation. She figured there would be some secret initiation task and a test of skills before it came to that. But this was what Felicity had been hoping for in the long run and she was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Seriously? That's it?"

Well, okay. She might question it a little.

"What do you mean 'that's it'? We just told you that Oliver wants you on the team!"

Felicity doesn't miss the way Roy excludes himself from the latter half of his exclamation. Clearly he isn't a fan of hers. But that's his problem.

"No, that's not what I meant. Obviously, it's a big deal that you want me here. I wouldn't have let you catch me if that wasn't something I was ready for." She can hear Roy scoff at that from behind her but chooses to ignore it. "I just thought there would be some test I had to pass or something. Maybe a background check? Although, you've probably already done that, I would imagine."

Not that they would have found much on her. The lifestyle Felicity came from was tragic at its worst and shady at its best but she had made sure to cover her tracks, sifting through virtual file after virtual file about her family and altering it to portray the sad but not uncommon story of another unfortunate family in the Glades. Were the curiosity to strike anyone, they would find a story about a poor little girl whose father up and left after serving a ten-year sentence for a bevy of criminal activity. They would read the sad tale of a child whose only remaining parent was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident on an icy winter's day when she was only seven. It's tragic, yes, but not uncommon for a family in the Glades, nothing that would call unwanted attention to herself. Life, until recently, had been all about blending in.

"I did my homework on you."

Their eyes connect and the way Oliver looks at her sends shivers down her spine and not because of the chilly temperature of the basement they are currently in. His words combined with his gaze hold so much more to them. And what really gets her, there's none of the usual pity in his eyes. Instead it's heated, inquisitive, admirable even, like she's a puzzle and he's trying to fit all of the pieces together to see the bigger picture. No one has ever looked at her with such a burning interest before and it shakes something deep inside of her.

"We should still test her abilities. Can this girl even fight?"

Okay, Roy, the message is pretty clear. Red Arrow does not equal Felicity's biggest fan. Got it.

She actually laughs at his inquiry before pivoting to face him, a challenging glint in her eye and hands defiantly set on her hips.

"I don't know. You feel like having your ass kicked?"

Roy steps up close to Felicity, attempting to intimidate her with his size.

"Bring it on, Blondie."

She knew he wouldn't back down from her taunting. From what she's heard over the coms and the in-person interaction she's had for the last five minutes or so, it's obvious that this guy is stubborn. Good. The stubborn ones put up the best fight.

"Roy, stop it we don't need to – "

"Oh let him do it, Ollie. It will be good to have his ego knocked down a peg."

Oliver glares sharply at Sara across the room. Now perched on top of one of the steel tables, she leans back onto her arms and smirks at the scene before her in amusement. It's the kind of relaxed badass vibe that Felicity wishes came naturally to her instead of the babbling incoherency she has trained into submission that still makes an appearance more than she would like.

"What's the matter, boss? Worried I'm gonna hurt her?"

"I just watched her take down three grown men. Worried that _she_ is going to hurt _you_ is more like it."

A satisfied smirk crosses her face and she can see the comment only eggs Roy on. He strips off his leather jacket, unfortunately he's wearing a black cotton V-neck underneath, and makes his way towards the training mats in the center of the room.

"Come on, Blondie. Let's see if you're more than just a pretty face."

"Funny, I was just about to say the same thing about you, Abercrombie."

Felicity shrugs out of her jacket, throwing it down on the chair she no longer occupies, and makes her way over to the training mats. She and Roy both take up fighting stances on opposite sides, a challenging glint in both their eyes.

"Just don't get any blood on the mats, okay kids?"

"Sara."

"What? You know how Roy gets sometimes. Just giving them a fair warning."

Felicity doesn't take her eyes off of Roy, waiting for his first move.

When he finally lunges at her, Felicity quickly sidesteps at the last second, rotating away from him. He's better trained than that though and quickly comes back swinging his right arm at her in an uppercut. She ducks out of the way and takes the opportunity to swipe her leg out and take him off balance. He falls back, curling in on himself and rolling backwards with his momentum until he's back on his feet.

Felicity stands with fists balled in front of her, ready for Roy's next move. But when it doesn't come she decides to take to offense, moving in to swing a blow at his midsection. Only he's fast and catches her wrist in his hand, which isn't exactly fair play but actually works to her advantage. It's a move she's become accustomed to in her days of street thug wrestling and the occasional schoolyard fight. There were a lot of bullies in the Glades in a lot of different shapes and sizes. And Felicity had the means to stop them, so she did.

As Roy pulls Felicity towards him, she uses the momentum to turn so her back is facing his chest and jabs her right elbow back into his jaw. He lets go allowing her to pull free and swipe backwards at him with her left arm. He leans back out of its path, arm moving so fast it passes by him with a swoosh in the air.

The fighting continues until five minutes later they're broken up by an authoritative voice.

"Alright, that's enough. Clearly she can keep up, Roy."

Felicity and Roy keep their eyes trained on each other, neither one of them releasing their defensive stances or tensed fists.

"I said, that's enough."

It's a small, feminine yet deadly hand on Roy's shoulder that causes him to finally relax. But only just.

"Come on, Roy. We have to go take up our shifts at the club. Thea will be looking for you soon."

It's like the sound of his girlfriend's name flips a switch somewhere inside him because Felicity can visibly see the shift in demeanor the second Roy hears it.

Huh, guess Mr. Hothead has a soft spot after all.

"Fine."

The two go off somewhere to change and then quickly make their way up the steps and out the door, leaving Felicity alone with Oliver once again.

"I'm sorry about Roy. He… has a bit of a temper."

"Yeah, no kidding."

She turns to face him, long blonde ponytail flipping over her shoulder and brushing across her back.

"Was what Sara said true? You want me on the team?"

"… Yes."

Oliver walks towards her, eating up the careful space between them in a few strides so they stand less than a foot apart.

"You barely know anything about me and you're offering me a spot on your team, just like that? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not complaining but for all you know I could be on a mission to infiltrate your system and take you down. Not that that's what I'm trying to do. But you never know. It could happen."

His calming hand on her shoulder stops her from rambling on any further.

And now her stupid stomach is doing that empty, fluttery thing again. Traitor.

"Felicity."

"Right. You did your homework."

Oliver gives her a soft smile, one that both puts her at ease and sends her heart racing. Well this could be problematic.

"So, are you in?"

This is it, her make it or break it moment. She's been so sure these past few months that this is what she wanted, to join the Arrow and use her training for good. But now that she has been given the offer, all her doubts and insecurities are ganging up on her.

No. This is what she wanted, what she _wants_. She's going to do this. She's going to help them and help the people of this city. It's the least she can do after her father…

"Yeah, I'm in."

...

**Author's Note: I won't be updating every day like this. But Chapter 1 and this chapter are pretty much companion pieces as they take place consecutively on the same night. Also, hopefully this answers a couple questions on the 'verse set up.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**- Bri**


	3. Army Bros and CEOs

**Author's Note: So hi guys! Just a quick note before this Part begins, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who's left a review and also remind you of the structure of this story. It's not a plot-heavy multi chapter fic. Instead it can be read more as a series of one-shots in the same 'verse. I just want to put that out there before people start wondering when the super heavy plot is coming and expect a whole bunch of angst.**

**Also, DIGGLE!**

...

Part 3: Army Bros and CEOs

"Hi, uh, I'm here to see Mr. Queen?"

It comes out more of a question than a statement. But that's probably because Felicity feels completely underdressed in her flowing skirt, loose fitting sweater, and panda ballet flats, the only pair she owns, as she waits in the swanky office building of Queen Consolidated. Everyone around her is dressed to the nines in business formal in varying shades of black and white, occasionally navy. She sticks out like a sore thumb in her vibrant magenta top and bright pink lipstick.

"Name?"

"Felicity. Smoak. He should be expecting me. I called ahead on his personal and he said he would clear it with you."

Oh God she shouldn't have said that. If the bored looking receptionist hadn't been judging her already, she was now. Felicity stands strong as the middle-aged woman's eyes scan over her again but with more interest. Probably wondering why a nineteen-year-old girl is calling the CEO of Queen Consolidated on his personal phone and visiting him during the workday when she _should_ be in her Intro to Cyber Crimes lecture, a class she had been shocked to find was offered at the local community college.

"What's your reason of visit, again?"

"Does it matter?"

The woman gets a look in her eye that's part pitying and part condescension as she picks up the phone and calls Oliver, well calls his assistant Felicity assumes. This lady probably thinks she's a scorned lover or something of that nature. It's apparently the only plausible reason someone like her would be visiting someone like Oliver. She clutches onto the strap of her messenger bag and worries at her bottom lip with her teeth as she waits for the receptionist to confirm what Felicity already knows.

"Hi Cassandra, can you tell Mr. Queen that I have a Felicity Smoak waiting down here for him."

There's a pause as the woman on the other end of the line, _Cassandra_, responds and then silence. The receptionist picks at something on the underside of her nail, then lets her gaze slide "subtly" towards Felicity again. Luckily her _very rude_ staring is interrupted by the voice on the other line.

"Oh. He _is_ expecting her. Okay should I send her up then… A personal escort. Uh huh… Alright I'll let her know. Thanks Cassandra."

Felicity stares expectantly at the receptionist as she hangs up the phone and shuffles a few papers around on her desk before grabbing a plastic VISITOR badge from a pile.

"Mr. Queen is sending someone down to show you the way to his office."

"Oh how very kind of him."

The woman slides the pass over the counter for Felicity to take, smiling like one does when they are at someone else's home for dinner and has to pretend to enjoy the disgusting recipe that only the family members present love.

"Ms. Smoak?"

Turning her head, Felicity spots an African American man, somewhere in his mid-to-late thirties if she had to guess, dressed in a well-tailored suit walking towards her. The employee ID he's wearing reads PERSONAL SECURITY: DIGGLE, JOHN.

"Mayyyyybe. Who wants to know?"

The man smiles and shakes his head slightly in amusement before holding out a hand.

"John Diggle, head of personal security for Mr. Queen. He said you were a feisty one. I'm here to accompany you to his office."

Oliver talked about her? That sends a little bit of a thrill through Felicity. Stupid crush.

She reaches out and accepts the man's hand in greeting.

"Felicity Smoak, but I guess you knew that. Nice to meet you Mr. Diggle."

"Please, just Diggle or Digg is fine. I'm thinking we are going to be seeing a lot of each other, might as well skip formalities now."

Oh she likes him. He's warm, genuine, and not anywhere near the creepy older men she's used to dealing with in the Glades.

They step up to an elevator, located on a separate side from all the others. Diggle removes his ID from its clip and slides it through the keypad next to the lift before punching in the code to unlock it. She could probably hack that in the same amount of time, maybe half. He motions for her to step in first, which she does, before he follows and presses the top button on the panel.

"Executive elevator, restricted access only."

"Huh?"

"You seemed intrigued, thought I would explain what the hell is going on. Oliver may have mentioned that you'd be interested in the security measures. Makes sense, given your nightly activities."

That gives her pause.

"What?"

"I know about Oliver's... nighttime persona. Actually, I was the first one to know when he came back three years ago, besides Sara. I'm sorry I haven't been around to meet you. My wife, Lyla, and I are expecting so I haven't been by Verdant lately."

Wow, Oliver, way to warn a girl. She was seriously considering ways of escape a few seconds ago. Although given the enclosed space and the gun she spotted in its holster behind Digg's back, escape would have been a difficult feat.

"Oh he uh, he didn't tell me anyone else was in on it."

"He tends to do that. Roy didn't know either until I showed up in the foundry the day after he was brought in. Kid tried to fight me. His tempter tends to get the best of him."

"Really? I hadn't noticed."

Diggle chuckles at her clearly sarcastic tone and they step out of the elevator as the doors slide open, revealing the executive floor of Queen Consolidated.

The first thing she notices is glass. Everywhere she turns the walls are made of glass. It's a little disorienting and the openness of it all makes her want to cringe. Oliver clearly did not design this because there is no room for privacy, something she's sure he values highly.

The second thing she notices is a leggy, brunette model-type walking towards them, clipboard in hand. Now, Felicity's never had an office job, but she's pretty sure that neckline and hemline and really every line the woman is wearing break about ten unspoken dress codes and at least three written ones. Not obvious at all.

"Hello, I'm Mr. Queen's assistant, Cassandra. You must be Felicity."

Jesus, Oliver, did you have to pick the most stereotypical assistant trope in the history of the world?

"Uh huh. That would be me."

"Mr. Queen is expecting you. This way, please."

Well yeah, of course he's expecting her. That's why he sent Diggle to show her the way up. A glance at the older man next to her shows him rolling his eyes in amused exasperation.

So, Felicity's not the only one who's noticed it. That brings a small smile to her face as they walk through a glass door to where she can see Oliver sitting behind a mahogany desk on his big, bad CEO throne, aka a leather swivel chair.

He smiles at Felicity and gestures for her and Digg to enter while he speaks with someone on the phone.

"Thanks, Cassie, we can take it from here."

She can't resist throwing the comment at the assistant as her and Digg enter the office, the aforementioned man letting out an entertained grunt next to her.

Oliver's still talking on the phone as she makes her way over to his desk.

Instead of taking a seat on one of the leather sofas or standing to the side like Diggle, Felicity makes her way around the desk. Oliver quirks his head in question before she pops herself up to sit on the glass, shocker, top of the desk. Her legs dangle off the edge, swinging back and forth as she waits for him to finish up. Which is taking way too long in her opinion.

_"Are you done yet?"_

She mouth-whispers to him. He shakes his head 'no' and holds up a finger signaling for her to give him a minute. Seriously? She's missing lecture for this. Felicity taps her wrist at an imaginary watch, ordering him to hurry up to which he just rolls his eyes.

"_You" _she points a finger at Oliver "_asked me"_ then points to herself _"here."_

Felicity makes a grand sweeping gesture around the room with her arm, knocking over the expensive-looking desk lamp on the corner. She reaches for it, hoping and praying that she can catch it in time because, like she said, it looks expensive. Lucky for her Diggle has some pretty fast reflexes and snatches the lamp mid-air before it can hit the floor and shatter into a million pieces. She smiles at him in gratitude.

"Can you give me a second, Mark? Yeah, my assistant is asking me something."

Oliver pulls the phone away from his ear and covers the receiver with his hand.

"Will you hold on for a second? I promise this is almost done."

"For the record, you're pulling me out of lecture and even though I technically assist you in crime fighting, from behind a computer thus far which is another thing we need to talk about, I am definitely not your assistant. Who, by the way, could not be anymore obvious about trying to get in your pants."

"Felicity, three minutes, okay?"

"You know it's really rude to keep your guests waiting."

"Three minutes."

With that Oliver turns back to the phone in his hand.

"Yeah, hey Mark, I'm back. Listen, can we wrap this up? My assistant just reminded me that I'm late for an appointment."

"Not your assistant."

Felicity singsongs the words at Oliver as she turns to mess with his computer, breaking the passcode in seconds. He tries to nudge her away with his elbow but to no avail.

"So, Digg, those are some pretty good reflexes you have there."

She flips her ponytail over her shoulder and glances up from the keyboard to make eye contact with the man in question from behind the rectangular frames of her glasses.

"I served three tours in Afghanistan."

An impressed and awed whistle, if whistles can be awed, leaves Felicity's lips.

"I should probably solute you, but it would most likely end up being really offensive. So I'll just thank you. It takes a lot of bravery and strength, not just physical, to do that. It's a great thing all of you do for something you believe in and people you've never met. It's the kind of selfless act this world needs."

"Thank you. The way I see it, everybody's got a war to fight. Mine was just overseas." Diggle glances at Oliver before returning his gaze to her with a smile. "Guess it followed me home."

Yeah, she really likes him.

Felicity returns the smile and is about to turn back to her task at hand, setting up a no doubt much more secure firewall on Oliver's work computer, when a hand reaches out to wrap around her wrist.

"And just what do you think you're doing?"

She gives Oliver an innocent grin; he must have hung up the phone while she was speaking with Digg.

"I was just going to upgrade your firewall. Scouts honor."

It's three fingers for that, right? Or was that the Hunger Games solute…?

"Somehow I highly doubt you were a Girl Scout. Now, let's talk about tonight, shall we?"

"You're finally going to let me go on patrol, right?"

Felicity tries not to sound overtly eager, she really does. But it's kind of unavoidable. She's been on the team for two weeks now and the most action she's seen has been from grueling training sessions in the foundry. Her body is almost vibrating with the need to go out and kick some major butt.

"Not exactly."

Well that's a huge let down.

"Why not? I'm trained. I'm ready. I can do this."

Her eyes beg, plead with Oliver to just _please let her do this_. For a second it looks like he might give in. But then he reaches out a hand and lays it on her shoulder and she knows. She knows he won't let her out in the field yet.

"I know you are. But for tonight we need your expertise in the foundry. Sara and I are going in undercover at a gala and she's going to get close to one of the big wigs in order to slip some tech onto his phone. We need you to start decoding and analyzing the information the second it gets to you so we can work from there."

This… sucks. There's really not a better word for it. It just sucks because she knows it's a logical reason for her to stay behind.

The disappointment must show on her face because Oliver rubs his thumb softly back and forth over her shoulder and the very top of her collarbone in a soothing gesture. The heat from his touch seeps through the thin material of her sweater and into her skin, causing her to shiver.

"I'm sorry. But I – _we_ need you in the basement tonight, okay?"

"If it helps, I'm on foundry duty tonight, too. I can swing by Big Belly; get us some burgers, fries, maybe some milkshakes? It will give us a chance to get to know each other a little better."

She can't help but smile at Diggle's offer and be a little thankful. She's been lonely down there by herself.

"Thanks. I would appreciate the company. Especially since I've been left alone there _all week_."

"Felicity."

"Oliver."

The thing about her and Oliver, they can both be extremely strong-willed. So this staring contest they're currently locked in, it could go on for quite some time. Which is fine because, like she said, she's strong-willed.

The only problem is, the longer Felicity stares, the more drawn to him she becomes. There's a kind of magnetism between them, only sometimes it feels more like they are two of the same charges. A tension between them so thick it's almost palpable. Like right now, for instance. With her sitting on his desk and Oliver standing, they're almost at the same eye level, not quite because he's gargantuan, but almost. Easier access to – No, none of that.

She breaks the stare and looks away with a sharp inhale. Is the AC broken in here? Can't they crack a window or something?

"Oh brother…"

Felicity is inclined to agree with Diggle's muttered comment.

Oh brother, indeed.

...

**Author's Note: Yay Digg! Thanks for reading and please feel free to share your thoughts :)**

**- Bri**


	4. Winner Takes All

**Author's Note: If you want a visual of Felicity's superhero get-up, you can Google "Artemis Crock". It's supposed to be identical to the outfit of the parallel character on the show Young Justice. The only creative liberty I took was adding the adaptive microfiber because from a safety standpoint, baring all as a vigilante isn't the best idea. Plus it helped for story-telling purposes.**

**Have at it kids!**

...

Part 4: Winner Takes All (or in this case goes on patrol)

"Okay, but seriously, it's been almost a month since I joined this team and I haven't even gone out into the field yet."

"Focus."

They're currently in the foundry, they being Sara, Roy, Diggle, Oliver, and Felicity. Roy is off to the side beating the poor training dummy to a pulp while Diggle instructs him and Sara is running a program on their computers that Felicity designed and taught her how to use. Oliver had insisted that Felicity run through her target practice regimen before he went out on patrol.

"I _am_ focused."

She looses the arrow and it sails through the empty space between her and the target, sinking straight into the bullseye.

"See?"

Felicity throws an 'I told you so' look over her shoulder at Oliver. He has this grin on his face, one she has come to know well. It's a genuine smile filled with amusement and also a hint of something else that he only ever gives her and damn it if it doesn't make her smile just a little bit in return. Really though, the man is too attractive for his own good. There isn't a woman on Earth who could stand against his charm. It's annoying.

"Try this."

Oliver throws a tennis ball in her direction. She watches it bounce once, observing its path and knocking her arrow, twice, taking aim and judging it's force, then she lets it fly. The arrowhead pierces straight through the neon yellow felt and pins the ball to the target wall behind it.

Felicity turns back to face Oliver, a satisfied grin on her face.

"I'll tell you what, you outshoot me and you can go into the field. Tonight."

Here's the thing. Oliver is her mentor. Someone Felicity has come to respect greatly, even in the short amount of time they've worked together. Until now she hasn't put up much of a fight about going on patrol because she understands his reasoning behind it.

She's more qualified than anyone else on this team to run data analysis and handle all things technology wise in the foundry. She's also the least experienced when it comes to cooperating with a team. Oliver, Sara, and Roy have years of practice working together. They're a well-oiled machine whose parts fit perfectly together when they're in the field. Adding Felicity to the equation changes that balance and she's been learning their different fighting styles for the past three weeks to make up for it.

But she's ready now. She can do this. She _will_ do this. It's just that she would rather do this with Oliver's approval instead of going against him and no doubt causing them to be at odds. So, she decides to accept his challenge.

"Well that's just completely unfair."

Oliver pushes off of the table he was leaning against and makes his way over to the case that holds his bow, plucking the weapon out of its stand before traveling over to her.

"What? Don't think you can hold up to the Arrow?"

"I was going to say it's unfair to _you_, actually."

They're facing each other now, toe to toe in challenge.

"Oh is that right?"

"Yup. You're going down and I'm going in the field."

By now Diggle, Sara, and Roy have made their way over to see what's going on with their two bickering team members and Sara quickly steps up to referee.

"Okay, I'll be the judge of who wins this little competition. Neither of you can be trusted not to play dirty. Don't give me that look, Ollie; you know it's true. First person to nail, or should I say arrow, twenty tennis balls wins. Roy will throw them. Got it?"

"Oh, come on. He's totally gonna cheat for Oliver."

Roy may have finally accepted her as a part of the team, but he and Felicity were a bit competitive, always trying to one up the other. It was actually helpful when it came to training exercises and they had developed a pseudo sibling bond over the past few weeks, something Felicity never had growing up as an only child. But that didn't mean he wouldn't steer this contest in Oliver's favor.

"No he won't or Ollie automatically loses. Got it? Now line up."

Both Felicity and Oliver nod their consent and step up to the spots Sara indicates. She and Roy retrieve multiple canisters of tennis balls before standing to the side of the two archers. Diggle observes the whole thing, arms crossed in front of his chest as he leans back against the medical table with an amused smirk on his face.

"Alright, only rule is there are none. Remember, first to twenty wins. Ready? Go!"

The first few balls are easy to arrow for both Oliver and Felicity, each of them alternatively hitting the tennis balls until they have five apiece underway.

"Dibs on the first baddie we come by tonight."

What's a friendly competition without a little trash talk, right? Plus, just standing here and sinking arrows into tennis balls is no fun.

"Are we adding on to the bet? You sure you wanna risk that?"

Oliver hits two in a row then, pulling ahead of her.

"I think the odds are in my favor."

A three in a row streak of shots for Felicity follows her comment.

"Okay, Katniss."

"Did you just reference pop culture? Speaking of names, I wonder what the good people of Starling will come up with for me and my superhero self."

They alternate shots again until each of them is up to eighteen.

"It's going to be some time before we find that out considering I'm about to win this."

Oliver hits the next one, leaving Felicity at eighteen and him at nineteen. One more and he wins.

That is not happening.

She doesn't respond, instead zeroing in on her target. There's a technique her dad once taught her, a way to block out everything else and focus on one exact point. The way he taught her was agonizingly painful but it did the trick. So she breathes, she breathes and refuses to react to anything but the sound of rubber on concrete and the angle that the tennis ball bounces off of the floor at. She adjusts her stance almost imperceptibly and lets the arrow fly, sinking into the ball a second before Oliver's does and knocking it out of his path. She does the same with the following one and grins in triumph.

"First baddie is on me tonight! Yes!"

She may or may not do a celebratory fist pump. The evidence of that will be wiped away as soon as she gets her hands on the foundry's computers and surveillance system.

"Dude, how did she beat you?"

Roy seems shocked, which is actually a little bit insulting. But whatever, she just beat the Arrow at his own game. No one is taking that away from her.

"She's a good shot, that's how."

Oliver grins at her, like he's in on some big secret, and it gives Felicity pause in her victory dance. (Metaphorical victory dance, she was _definitely not_ dancing around the foundry in glee… okay maybe a little.) She gives Oliver a scrutinizing look, trying to understand what could possibly cause him to react this way.

Then it hits her. He knew she would win. The contest, the teasing, the unsurprised and nonchalant acceptance of her victory, he totally knew that one way or another she was going to win and go out in the field tonight. That sneaky little Green Bean!

"Hey wait a second. Did you – "

Oliver interrupts Felicity before she can finish her inquiry.

"Rules are rules, you get to go out in the field. Now all you need is a suit."

Should she call him out on it or let it slide…? Felicity decides to wait on calling him out for the time being because _she's_ _going in the field_!

Just then an alert sounds from the bank of computers and she quickly runs over to check it. A robbery in progress, the perfect crime to start off her new vigilante nightlife.

"It's show time boys! And Sara. Boys and Sara. You know, everyone just always says boys. I guess I could have said guys and that would have worked all the same. Ok anyway, let me go change."

"Change?"

Oliver looks bewildered at her statement, like he hadn't expected her to be prepared for that. It's almost, dare she say, cute, like a little puppy. He would probably growl at her and then go work out shirtless on the salmon ladder for an hour to prove his macho man-ness if she said that out loud.

Actually, that might not be such a bad thing...

"Yeah, into my super suit. You didn't think I came unprepared, did you? Please. Prepared is my middle name. Actually it's Meghan, but that's irrelevant. Be right back!"

She reaches for her duffle bag that she always brings to the foundry. It usually holds her gym clothes, shower necessities, and a change of clothes to go home in as well as her phone charger and some snacks. What? All the training can really run a girl to empty. Her mom would start asking questions if Felicity came home from "work" every night sweaty and starving.

The one other article that's always inside, usually tucked away in a corner underneath a mountain of stuff, is the suit she made the second she started tracking the team. It's dark green leather, a nod to Oliver's costume if she's being honest. Felicity supposes she could have chosen her own color or followed Sara's lead and gone with black, actually she almost did, but green was more colorful, if only just, yet still dark enough to blend. Besides, she's always looked good in green, really brings out her eyes.

The outfit is a two-piece affair, deep green leather pants and a sleeveless, cropped top with an arrow on the front, a shade lighter than the rest. It exposes her arms and midriff but what others can't see is an adaptive microfiber that covers her skin, a protective barrier between her and the outside world that adapts to her skin tone. The mask she has chosen is more of a mask-hood hybrid, a cowl. It covers her face; everything minus her eyes, nose, mouth, and a bit of the surrounding area, and connects with her cowl to cover her neck. The top of her head and her usual ponytail are visible, unshielded by the material. She pairs the outfit with leather gloves that stop right below her elbows and armbands around her biceps that connect more of the adaptive microfiber. A black utility belt and pair of combat boots complete the outfit.

She looks pretty badass, if she says so herself.

A sudden bout of nerves rushes through Felicity's body as she takes a look in the mirror. This is the first time she is going out in the field. Her first chance to really prove herself to this team that she's come to know over coms in the past few months and know even better in person during these past three weeks. She can't let them down. She won't.

Taking one final look in the mirror, Felicity adjusts her cowl, even though it fits her perfectly, and breathes in deeply before turning to push open the door. It takes a second before they can really see her. And when they do, their reactions are not at all what she was expecting.

"Wow, Blondie, you actually don't look half bad in that."

It's a compliment, sort of. Well, it's the closest thing she will probably ever get to a compliment from Roy. But the person she is really focused on is Oliver.

It was risky, taking on his color. She wasn't quite sure how he would take it. He might not want her in something that resembles his vigilante identity in anyway, shape, or form. Or, he might be flattered and see it the way she meant it, as an homage and a thank you, for letting her join his team and for taking her under his wing.

Of course, Felicity can't really tell what Oliver is thinking because he hasn't said a thing. She isn't sure he's even taken a breath, let alone moved. He's just standing there all wide-eyed and slack-jawed.

Felicity waits with baited breath for his approval. Or his disapproval. Approval is the preferred response though.

"Well…?"

Sara stands next to Oliver, sly grin on her face and shoulders shaking with silent laughter.

"Lis, it's awesome. Don't you think she looks great, Ollie?"

Felicity bites her lip and begins to fidget with the ends of her gloves when he doesn't answer right away. It takes Sara gently, sort of, nudging Oliver with her shoulder for him to finally say something.

"Uhm, yeah. That's… that's a lot of skin showing."

"You would think that, right? Only it's actually all covered! There's this guy in my lab on Tuesday nights that is really into this stuff and helped me with it. His name is Barry and honestly, he should probably be somewhere like Stanford or MIT, not taking night classes at a local community college. Not that there's anything wrong with community college. It's just that, you know, Ivy Leagues and all. Anyway, I was talking to him about adaptive microfibers and he came up with this. It's just as durable as the leather, if not more."

"Oh… well I guess that's good then."

Oliver's acting… weird. Really weird. She definitely expected him to have more of an opinion about this, maybe even argue with her. But he's being all silent and kind of dumbfounded and it's not something she's used to. Well, the silent part she is because when he gets broody, and that happens a lot, he tends to block out everything and take his frustrations out on the training dummy or that ridiculous tire thing that takes up way too much space in her opinion.

Then again, it makes his arm muscles look really, really nice and he usually does it shirtless. So she can't complain too much because it is a beautiful sight. He could probably charge for it and quit his day job as CEO.

Would that be a form of prostitution? Technically he would be selling his body but it could be considered art or a show of sorts. So no, probably not prostitution, more like a themed strip tease situation.

"So it's approved? I'm field ready?"

"I think he approves. I definitely do. You look hot."

Felicity can't help but blush at Sara's compliment. Yeah, she knows she does but hearing it from someone else is even better. Felicity would be lying if she said that wasn't a small part of why she chose the suit design that she did. It made her feel invincible.

"Yeah, yeah it's approved. Let me just change and then we can go."

Oliver quickly grabs his hood and pants out of their glass case and heads into the bathroom. She's only ever seen him move that fast out in the field or while training with Sara, Digg, and Roy. He hasn't agreed to train with her in hand-to-hand combat yet, leaving that to Sara and Digg. Although it's not like she needs to learn moves so much as team plays and maneuvers that involve them working together.

Felicity turns to face the three other members of the team and finds them all with varying forms of shit eating grins on their faces. Sara is muffling laughter with a hand to her mouth while Roy doesn't even bother to hold his amusement in. Diggle just shakes his head back and forth.

"What gives? Did I say something or…?"

"No. You didn't have to say a thing, Lis."

Felicity tugs nervously at the microfiber covering her midsection.

"I think it looks good. It's his color but I thought maybe he would take it as a compliment. I hoped he would. I wasn't trying to steal his thunder or anything."

Diggle comes forward and lays a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Trust me, he likes it. Probably a little more than he wishes he would. It looks great, Felicity. You did a good job."

She smiles at the older man's reassurance. Her and Digg had bonded the couple of nights he had come into the foundry. He told her about his time in Afghanistan and about his wife, Lyla, and she gave him very small and vague glimpses into where she came from. Digg has become a sort of older brother figure to her, one that she greatly appreciates having.

"Thanks."

The alert on the computer pings again and Digg goes over to read up on the new information. Felicity had given him a very brief run through of how her systems worked so that he could man the coms and crime alerts when she or Sara weren't around to do it.

"Looks like they're hitting more than one place. You might wanna get a move on it."

Sara takes a look at a map on one of the side screens before calling out.

"Okay, Roy and I will head out and scout the area, you and Ollie meet us there. Sound good, Lis?"

"Yeah, we'll see you in a bit."

With that, both Sara and Roy grab their suits, disappearing to change and head out, leaving Felicity in the foundry to wait for Oliver.

The nerves begin to settle in tenfold. It's her first time out on patrol with a team. A team that is very well organized and has over two years of working together under their gadget-filled belts. She's been kicking herself hard these past few weeks. Between training here at night, working during the day, and her few community college classes scattered around, there hasn't been a lot of time to think about what it could mean if she doesn't perform perfectly. She has to be what they need her to be, has to fit in with a pre-established status quo. If not, it is very likely that they will bench her, or in this case computer her, and leave her to work only from within the foundry. And although Felicity has grown very attached to the computers and processing systems of the idle and heroic rich, she won't be content with never going into the field again.

"Felicity, I know that look. Don't overthink this. You're going to do fine."

She startles from her worrying to glance up at Diggle, who crossed the floor sometime during her mini freak out to stand in front of her.

"Yeah, no, I'm definitely not. Overthinking this, that is. I know I'll do fine. I just… I've never worked with a team before; wasn't much of a sports fan in school, didn't join any clubs. This, working with others, is a little bit new to me and I want them to see that I belong here, too."

Wow, she was not expecting all of that to come tumbling out. But there's no use crying over spilt milk they say. Whoever _they_ is. Although why anyone would cry over milk is beyond her.

"As far as I'm concerned, and I'm pretty sure the rest of the team would back me up on this, you already belong here. You're irreplaceable, Felicity."

She can do nothing but nod her head and smile gratefully at him.

Thank God for people like John Diggle.

"Hey you ready to go?"

Whirling around she finds Oliver striding towards her, the dumfounded look he had earlier wiped clean from his face. He's in full-on mission mode now.

Except she's pretty sure his eyes wander from her face a few times.

"Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go kick some major ass!"

Lame. Oh God, that was so, so lame. She almost brings her palm up to slap her forehead at how cringe-worthy her response was.

But apparently Oliver doesn't think so because he laughs a little under his breath, breaking his broody vigilante character, and grins at her enthusiasm.

"Okay, then. Let's go."

Grabbing her compound bow and giving Diggle one last smile, Felicity makes to follow Oliver when something stops her short.

"Wait, how am I getting there? I don't have a bike and I'm pretty sure my bright red mini cooper does not fall under the category of suggested modes of vigilante transportation. I'll have to double check with the handbook but I'd put good money on it."

"We'll take my bike."

Of course they will.

….

This was a horrible idea. It was the most horrible of all horrible ideas. If there were a list of horrible ideas organized from the most horrible to the slightly bearable horrible, this would be number one on the most horrible side. Wow, she used the word horrible a lot.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Just, wow you're going really fast."

Smooth, real smooth Smoak.

"Don't tell me you're scared of a little speed."

She can almost feel Oliver's smirk from where she's sitting. Which would be on the back of his bike. Racing through the streets of Starling. With her arms wrapped around his rock solid midsection and her face buried in his neck.

His aftershave smells really good, all musky and leather and male. She's never encountered the smell before, but it's quickly become a favorite of hers. Maybe it's not aftershave. In which case she just found out that she really likes how Oliver smells in general. Like she needed to add another item to the list of 'Things Oliver Queen Does to Drive Felicity Smoak Crazy'. Lot of theoretical lists being made tonight.

"I'm not scared. Just worried you'll get pulled over. You know, somehow I don't think that would be very conducive to our super secret mission."

The bravado in her retort is undermined by the squeak she lets out as the bike veers left on a sharp turn.

"Felicity."

"Mhmmm…"

"Hold on to me tight."

"I imagined you saying that under different circumstances. Very platonic. Circumstances."

Great. Awesome. That just happened. Really, it should have been getting easier to control her thoughts from escaping her mouth around him. But it's not. In fact, her filter is getting even worse if that were possible. Is there some kind of medical procedure to fix that? No, probably not or she would know about it already.

Oliver really is going dangerously fast though, in order to catch up to Sara and Roy, so Felicity doesn't have much of a choice but to comply. She hauls herself even closer to his body as the accelerator hums beneath them, pressing her chest flat against his back. If they weren't racing through the city at highly illegal speeds she would be more than a little embarrassing about rubbing all up against her older boss-type person.

The correct title for what he is to her is still a little unclear.

The bike makes another sharp turn as Oliver steers around a corner and Felicity grabs the first thing her hands can find purchase on, which just so happens to be his belt and the top of his leather pants. Her hands slide beneath the waistband for a moment, gloved fingers slipping between leather and well-defined abdominal muscle.

The motorcycle jerks to the side, coming _this close_ to clipping a silver BMW. Oliver lets out a small curse under his breath before quickly righting their position.

"Maybe you should slow down. I don't exactly feel like dying before I even get to my first mission."

"You're not going to die."

"Yeah, okay, mister I-drive-motorcycles-at-illegal-speeds-and-like-to-make-risky-mauevers-to-freak-Felicity-out."

"I'm not trying to freak you out."

"Then what do you call that little incident back there?"

"Platonic circumstances."

"What?"

Oliver lets out a sigh and she can feel him sag slightly forward in the seat.

"Never mind. Just, trust me, okay? I would never let anything happen to you."

She doesn't exactly need his protection; after all she's proved on more than one occasion that she can take care of herself. But the sentiment hits her in an unexpected way. She's never had someone to take care of her. Her mother tries, but being immobilized and confined to a wheel chair is limiting in huge ways. Felicity's always looked after herself and done what she needs to do to survive. Help and the care and concern of others are not something she's used to. Receiving that now, from Oliver, means more to her than she thinks either of them realized it would.

"I know."

...

**Author's Note: I know a lot of people want some in-action sequences of Felicity kicking butt. It's coming, don't worry :)**

**Oh also, I think I had a review on about Oliver treating Felicity like a kid last chapter with the whole 'we need you in the foundry' talk. He's not treating her like a child, he's treating her like a new member to a pre-established team who is still learning the ropes. Felicity respects his opinion and his wishes because he's her mentor. In this story she is, within reason, his subordinate for the time being. But at the end of the day they both listen to each other and respect the other's rights and ability to make their own choices. It's just like when Oliver was training Roy. (Only with UST and *feelings*.) I hope this chapter cleared that up a little.**

**- Bri**


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